Jungle warfare

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Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. It has been the topic of extensive study by military strategists, and was an important part of the planning for both sides in many conflicts, including the Vietnam War and World War II.

U.S. Marines training in the jungle
U.S. Marines training in the jungle

Contents

[edit] History

The real pioneers who methodically developed it as a specialized branch of warfare -the unconventional, low-intensity, guerrilla-style type of warfare as it is understood today- were probably the British. Examples of such early jungle-warfare forces were the Chindits, V Force and Force 136, who were small bodies of soldiers, equipped with no more than small arms and explosives, but rigorously trained in guerrilla warfare-style tactics (particularly in close-quarter combat). Formed in the later stage of the Pacific War in support of conventional forces, these were the true jungle-warfare experts whose unconventional combat skills and tactics were specially developed for use in the jungle environment. The very beginning of it all probably traces back to immediately after the fall of Malaya and Singapore in 1942, when a few British officers, such as the legendary Freddie Spencer Chapman, eluded capture and escaped into the central Malaysian jungle where they helped organize and train bands of lightly armed local ethnic Chinese Communists into a capable guerrilla force against the Japanese occupiers. What began as desperate initiatives by several determined British officers probably inspired the subsequent formation of the above-mentioned early jungle-warfare forces.

After the war, early skills in jungle warfare were further honed in the so-called Malayan Emergency, when in 1948 W.W.II guerrilla fighters of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) turned against their former British ally. Early British tactics against MCP guerrillas were unsuccessful, as W.W.II-style conventional-warfare jungle operations were ineffective against an elusive guerrilla force. The British were quick to realize that it would take unconventional means to fight an unconventional enemy in an unconventional war, and the Special Air Service, which was created for unconventional warfare in the deserts of North Africa in W.W.II, were re-activated as the Malayan Scouts. It was the post-war SAS who pioneered the special counter-insurgency tactics in the dense Malayan jungle.

In addition to jungle discipline, field craft, and survival skills, special tactics such as combat tracking (first using native trackers), close-quarter fighting (tactics were developed by troopers protected only with fencing masks stalking and shooting each other in the jungle training ground with air rifles), small team operations (which led to the typical four-man special operations teams) and tree jumping (parachuting into the jungle and through the rain forest canopy) were developed to actively take the war to the Communist guerrillas instead of reacting to incidents initiated by them. Of greater importance was the integration of the tactical jungle warfare with the strategic "winning hearts and minds" psychological, economic and political warfare as a complete counter-insurgency package. The Malayan Emergency was declared over in 1960 as the surviving Communist guerrillas were driven to the jungle near the Thai border, where they remained until they gave up armed struggle in 1989.

Singapore Army Combat Trackers in Brunei during the early 1980s.
Singapore Army Combat Trackers in Brunei during the early 1980s.

The British experience in counter insurgency was passed onto the Americans during their involvement in the Vietnam War,[citation needed] where the battle grounds were, again, the jungle. Much of British strategic thinking on counter-insurgency tactics in a jungle environment was passed on through BRIAM (British Advisory Mission) to South Vietnam headed by Sir Robert Thompson, a former Chindit and the Permanent Secretary of Defense for Malaya during the Emergency).[citation needed]

The Americans further refined jungle warfare by the creation of such dedicated counter-insurgency special operations troops as the Special Forces ("Green Berets"), Rangers, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP) and Combat Tracker Teams (CTT). During the decade of active US combat involvement in the Vietnam War (1962-1972), jungle warfare became closely associated with counter insurgency and special operations troops. However, although the Americans managed to have mastered jungle warfare at a tactical level in Vietnam, they did not seem to have understood the strategic aspect of winning a jungle-based insurgency war.[citation needed] Hence, the American military lost the Vietnam War even though U.S. forces, especially special operations troops, defeated the Viet Cong guerrillas and the North Vietnamese Army militarily.

Australian and New Zealand SASR troops were masters of jungle warfare, being named "ghosts" by their VC/NVA enemies. Australian troops had significant experience in Jungle warfare in Vietnam due to their participation in the Asian campaigns in WW2 and also through their involvement in the Malaysian Emergency and Indonesian confrontation. The Australian Jungle warfare training school is located in Canungra Land Warfare Centre in Queensland, AUSTRALIA.

With the end of the Vietnam War, jungle warfare fell into disfavor among the major armies in the world, namely, those of the US/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact, which focused their attention to conventional warfare with a nuclear flavor to be fought on the jungle-less European battlefields. US special operations troops that were created for the purpose of fighting in the jungle environment, such as LRRP and CTT, were disbanded, while other jungle-warfare-proficient troops, such as the Special Forces and Rangers, went through a temporary period of decline, until they found their role in counter-terrorism operations in the 1980s.

In the early 21st century, with the decline of jungle-based Communist insurgency throughout the world and relative peace reigning among the countries located in the tropical rain forest zone, jungle warfare has reduced scope and pirority in the training curriculum of most conventional soldiers of major Western armies.[citation needed] In its place, desert warfare in both the conventional and unconventional scope has become a prioritized syllabus because of operational requirements in the hot, arid climate of the Middle East and Central Asia.

[edit] Jungle units

At present the following armies have specialised jungle units or Jungle Troops:

  • Argentina Cazadores del Monte
  • Brazilian Army has four Jungle Infantry Brigade: 1st, 16th, 17th and 23th Jungle Infantry Brigades and Jungle Warfare Training Center (CIGS).
  • British Army has various Gurkha brigades.
  • Colombia Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales
  • Philippine Army Scout Rangers
  • USA Special Forces ("Green Berets"), Rangers, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP) and Combat Tracker Teams (CTT).
  • Suriname "korps speciale troepen"

[edit] References

Books and Articles

Barber, Noel. The War of the Running Dogs: How Malaya Defeated the Communist Guerrillas, 1948-60. London: Orion Publishing Group/Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2005. Baudrier, Michael, 'Love & Terror in Malaya,' (ISBN 1-4120-5171-1) Trafford Publishing, 2005.

Chapman, Spencer. The Jungle is Neutral. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2003. (First published by Chatto & Windus in 1949.)

Forty, George, Japanese Army handbook 1939-1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1999.

Marchall, Brig. Gen. S. L. A. and Lt. Col. David H. Hackworth. "Vietnamprimer: Lessons Learned." Headquarters, Department of the Army, U.S. Army, 1966 (?). (Published on the Internet at: http://www.geocities.com/equipmentshop/vietnamprimer.htm.)

Shortt, James G. and Angus McBride (illustrator). The Special Air Service. London: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1981.

Taber, Robert. War of the Flea: Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare. London, Granada Publishing Ltd., 1965.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links